Leave // Chance- MTG Card of the Day

David
Fanany
Player
since
1995

I hate to say this, because war and disaster often make for good visuals, but I am getting kind of apocalypse-fatigued when it comes to Magic. I don’t understand why Nicol Bolas spent so long setting himself up as the God-Pharaoh and being worshipped as he surely feels is his due, just to tear everything down. I thought that the Conspiracy sets did a good job of conveying high stakes of a different kind, in the realms of politics and intrigue, and managed to get players involved in the setting without having to light all of Paliano on fire. Perhaps we can get a little more of that in upcoming sets.

This particular split card offers a rare possibility of literally turning permanents that aren’t useful any more into ones that are. Of course, barring some kind of massive library manipulation, you’re still at the mercy of luck, and that sort of setup will add a lot more time that you may not have in a crisis. The Leave part is definitely cheap enough to make it worth considering in a deck that makes use of comes-into-play or leaves-play abilities as a complement or alternative to the likes of Stonecloaker or Restoration Angel, so you can think of the aftermath side as a bonus option that might come up occasionally.

Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 3/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
EDH/Commander: 3/5

King Of
Hearts

I can’t help but feel like “Leave” should be blue. So can white decks benefit from “Leave?” The two most obvious obvious options are reusing enter the battlefield abilities or saving your creatures from attacks or board wipes. This card does target all permanents so you can reattach an aura, trigger Landfall, or set up a Revolt. 

Chance is a pretty standard re ability. Again I think Leave should be blue because this kind of draw power feels more Izzet than Boros. I do like how you can turn unwanted lands into value but four mana is hefty, especially if you want to play some of the cards you draw. I also dislike that Leave is an Instant while Chance is a Sorcery, meaning that you can’t combo as fast as you might like. It should be noted that this card combos really well with Dusk // Dawn. Leave is the better of the two halves as Chance is more situational.

Constructed: 2
Casual: 3
Limited: 2
Multiplayer: 3
Commander (EDH): 3

A selective Wheel of Fortune effect? Interesting enough. More interesting is that the first half, Leave, is a self-bounce spell that lets you evacuate permanents you want to protect, all for two mana. There’s the obvious synergy of using Leave to scoop up cards you no longer need and Chance to start anew, though six mana overall for the effect is a bit steep. I do like Chance a good amount; it’s a gamble, but turning a hand of lands into a hand of gas is a potentially nifty way out of a sticky situation. It’s a situational card, but one I can see being usable in some cases.

Constructed: 3
Casual: 3.5
Limited: 3.25
Multiplayer: 3
Commander: 3.75